Program Manager

Program Manager

Job Summary: Talent Software Services is in search of a Program Manager for a contract position in Minneapolis, MN. The opportunity will be for six months with a strong chance for a long-term extension.

Primary Responsibilities/Accountabilities:

Program Management

• Develop comprehensive program, portfolio, and project plans using Waterfall, Agile, and Hybrid delivery methodologies.
• Define scope, goals, deliverables, and timelines.
• Apply extensive vendor management experience to ensure delivery of contractual scope within agreed-upon constraints.
• Leverage experience to actively manage testing activities and resources to ensure unit, performance, functionality, and user testing objectives are met.
• Utilize departmental tools for program and project management, tracking, and reporting.

• Demonstrate business acumen and professionalism in order to clearly communicate with senior level executives in oral, written, and presentation formats.
• Lead conversations to facilitate the prioritization, road mapping, and trade off discussions with program stakeholders.
• Manage project managers within the program to provide day to day guidance and oversight in order to ensure service delivery.
• Support a collaborative and productive work and PMO team environment.
• Facilitate communication and coordination for projects / programs across cross-functional teams.
• Lead change management and conflict resolution efforts within the program.
• Ensure teams have clear roles, responsibilities, and deliverables.

• Build strong stakeholder relationships to become a trusted advisor to project sponsors and senior leaders.
• Communicate project status, risks, and issues to stakeholders and executive management in a timely manner to set expectations and escalate as appropriate.
• Ensure alignment of project objectives with business goals through stakeholder management activities.

• Proactively identify, assess, and manage project / program risks and issues through mitigation planning.
• Monitor and report project / program progress and performance throughout delivery lifecycle.

• Develop and manage program and project budgets, per governance requirements.
• Allocate resources effectively to ensure program and project success through demand management and capacity planning for projects / programs assigned.
• Monitor expenditures and ensure adherence to budget constraints.

• Oversee / Lead transformation and change management scope within the program, as appropriate, to ensure solution adoption and process adherence.

• Support the evaluation and refinement of project management methodologies and processes.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives within the PMO.
• Stay abreast of industry trends and emerging practices.

Qualifications:

• High school diploma or GED AND nine (9) years of experience managing multiple IT and business projects
  • Note: Highest completed degree in the following majors: Computer Science, Business Management, or Project Management will count towards the minimum nine (9) years of required work experience.
    • Associates degree counts as two years of experience
    • Bachelor's degree or higher counts as four years of experience
• Two (2) or more years in a lead role that required collaboration across multiple divisions with stakeholders from varying organizational levels.
• Active PMP or PgMP Certification

• Active CSM or SAFe Certification
• 2 years' experience with MS Project
• 1 years' experience with Azure Dev Ops or Jira

Preferred:

• Experience in program managing large, complex SaaS vendor implementations
• Experience in program managing transit initiatives
• Exceptional soft skills and emotional intelligence to navigate at multiple levels across the organisation
• Strong communication and collaboration skills
• Proven track record of delivering large initiatives within challenging constraints
• Experience with PPM Tools